


Everywhere You Look

by Nakeycatstakebaths



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bellamy and Emori host a TV show together, Charlotte is Bellamy's biological daughter, Everyone Is Alive, F/M, Family, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Found Family Feels, Full House AU, Gabriel hosts a kids show, Inspired by Full House (US), Kid Fic, Madi is Bellamy's biological daughter, Memori can't keep it in their pants, POV Alternating, POV Multiple, Slow Burn Bellarke, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, Uncle Murphy and Uncle Gabriel, Wholesome, single dad bellamy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-08
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:27:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26888878
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nakeycatstakebaths/pseuds/Nakeycatstakebaths
Summary: Full House AUWhatever happened to predictability?Three years ago, Bellamy Blake became a single dad to three little girls. To make things a bit easier, his two oldest friends moved in to help him. And together, Bellamy, Murphy, and Gabriel have managed themselves and the kids pretty well. But everything changes when Clarke and Emori stumble in their lives. The girls are thrilled, but their full house suddenly feels a lot fuller.But no matter how complicated things get, everywhere they look—there’s a whole lot of love.
Relationships: Bellamy Blake/Clarke Griffin, Emori/John Murphy (The 100)
Comments: 63
Kudos: 141





	1. Wake up Arkadia

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back y'all!! 
> 
> This fic is going to be straight fluff with no conflict and lots of wholesome found family vibes. It'll be split pretty evenly between Bellarke and Memori. 
> 
> Big thanks as always to @Elora_Lane for fueling my crazy and shout out to my new pal @braveprincesswisegirlprettydress who is just the sweetest little bug!

Bellamy reached over his head, cracking his knuckles. He’d been waking up alone for almost four years now, but recently, it felt more lonely. The king bed left ample room for him to stretch out, but it also emphasized the cold space beside him. 

After he lost Gina, he thought he might be alone forever and that he would be okay with that. 

But as time passed, that seemed less and less like the kind of life he wanted to live. 

He laid back against the pillows, considering what might lie ahead when he heard a small whine. 

“Daddy, I’m sick,” a small voice called from the side of his bed, a voice that sounded decidedly not sick. 

He leaned over to find Madi curled up on the floor, blanket wrapped around her shoulders, and her stuffed bear clutched in her arms. 

Mr. Bear was worse for the wear. One of his eyes was missing, his ragged ears torn from years of chewing. 

But no matter how tattered it got, Bellamy wouldn’t dream of messing with it. He knew how much it meant to Madi. Gina bought that bear for her when Madi was just a smudge on an ultrasound. And even though she didn’t really remember, she knew it was one of the only gifts she had from her mom. 

Curled up in a tiny ball, she looked so small and lost, he didn’t really care if she was faking. 

Gently, he hauled her up on the bed, letting her snuggle into his arms. The way she curled into him, he knew she needed it. 

At this rate, he was going to be late for work, but he could probably skip his shower and be fine. 

“If you’re sick, you’re going to have to come to work with me,” he said, trailing off even though he knew Madi would jump at the idea of being on set and eating snacks from Kraft services. 

And sure enough, she did. 

Madi sprung up from the bed and excitedly launched into a series of questions about what they were going to do all day. 

It made him a little worried, made him wonder whether she was having trouble at school or if she felt a misplaced sense of grief for a mother she didn’t know. 

These uncharacteristic grouchy spells were happening more and more frequently as she neared her sixth birthday, and they were starting to make him worry. 

“I knew she wasn’t sick,” Charlotte smirked, peeking her head through the doorway. 

“Daddy said I don’t have to go to school,” Madi fired back smugly, pushing her messy curls off her face so she could stick her tongue out at her sister. 

“No fair! Can I have the day off?” Charlotte pouted, leaning in the doorway. 

There was the sound of a door closing, and a few steps before Gabriel’s voice called down the hall. 

“We spent two days studying for your biology quiz. You can’t skip school,” he scolded, saving Bellamy the trouble of having to talk her out of it. 

“What are you still doing in bed?” Gabriel asked, stopping in front of the door with Eden on his hip. He was already dressed in his work clothes, long velvet cape trailing behind him down the hall. 

“I’m going to work with daddy today,” Madi repeated, still looking incredibly proud of herself. 

Gabriel smirked, shaking his head as he called over his shoulder. 

“You’re too soft for your own good, Blake.” 

***

  
Madi insisted on putting on her nicest dress to visit the set of “ _Wake Up Arkadia,_ ” apparently forgetting her ruse about being sick. 

Bellamy didn’t want to crush her spirit, not when she was so proud of her effort. 

She’d even made Murphy twist her hair into two little buns, topped with green ribbons to match her dress. 

He may be soft, but everyone else in their house was too. 

Bellamy chuckled to himself as Madi twirled in circles, waving and smiling to each person they passed. 

“Good morning, Mr. cameraman! Good morning Mrs. Food table lady!” She chirped, beaming when Bellamy’s coworkers smiled back at her. 

And then she reached Clarke. 

Bellamy’s production director. 

Who he may or may not have had a crush on for the past year. 

“I like your pretty dress,” Madi continued, seemingly unbothered by her father’s sudden discomfort. “Do you like my pretty dress?” 

Without missing a beat, Clarke took Madi’s hand, spinning her in another circle. 

“I love your pretty dress! Green is my favorite color,” Clarke said cheerfully, allowing Madi to spin her in an awkwardly cramped circle. 

His heart stuttered, and almost stopped beating completely when she bent down to Madi’s eye level, still smiling warmly. 

Clarke Griffin, was the main reason Bellamy was suddenly not content with the idea of being alone for the rest of his life. From the moment she dropped into their sound stage and started yelling out orders, he hadn’t been able to get her out of his head. 

Sure, Clarke spent most of her day yelling orders and directing people around on set. But Bellamy was lucky enough to see her in her softer moments too, when she spoke to guests or smiled at a perfect take. 

Her smile never failed to make him feel weak at the knees. She didn’t dole them out often, but when her cheeks turned up, and the small mole above her lip became more prominent…it was a sight to be seen. 

Bellamy spent more time than he’d cared to admit pretending like he wasn’t staring at her, like he wasn’t making up excuses just to ask her stupid questions. 

And now she was picking up his daughter, whispering something conspiratorially while they both looked in his direction. 

Even in his slightly mind-numbed state, Bellamy knew this was a combination that he wouldn’t be able to undo. 

They’d only been talking for a few minutes, and Madi already looked enamored by Clarke. 

He couldn’t exactly blame her. 

“Daddy, this is my new friend Clarke,” Madi announced proudly, straightening the production headphones from around her neck. “She said I could be in charge of the show today.” 

Clarke flashed him a careful smile, adjusting Madi on her hip, and for a moment, Bellamy forgot how to speak. 

“Could you spare her? I could really use the help,” Clarke agreed, winking at him over his daughter’s head. 

Clearing his throat, Bellamy tried to gather his bearings. 

This was ridiculous. 

He’s a grown man. He should be able to talk to a girl that he likes without completely losing his shit. 

“Well, if you insist…” he sighed, making a big show of pretending like he needed Madi to do his job, when in fact, Clarke was doing him a huge solid. 

Madi preened, whispering something in Clarke’s ear. Whatever she said earned a smile, and with a small wave, they both disappeared in the chaos of the pre-show set up. 

Bellamy took a deep breath, trying to steady himself as he made his way to the makeup chair. Emori was already sitting beside him, hair wrapped in round curlers that made her look a little like an alien. 

“ I saw that…” she teased, not looking up from the BuzzFeed article she was scrolling through. “Very smooth. Let your adorable child flirt for you.” 

He wanted to protest, but there was a grain of truth to it. There was no point in arguing with Emori about it. She’d figured out his crush on Clarke within a day. 

“Madi is obsessed with her,” he shrugged, trying to seem casual. 

“So are you…” 

“Is this necessary? Shouldn’t we be prepping or something?” 

Emori rolled her eyes, finally putting her phone down. “We read off a teleprompter, it’s not rocket science,” she giggled, scrunching her nose when the make-up artist brushed bronzer on it. “Now, stop trying to change the subject.” 

“I’m not changing the subject! There’s nothing to talk about!” 

“You could just talk to her, you know? She’s single, there’s nothing to lose in trying.” 

He hated to admit it, but Emori was right. This was the kind of in he’d been looking for. But Bellamy was off his game, the last time he dated...hell he couldn’t even remember the last time he asked someone out. And Clarke was...too perfect for him to risk messing things up. 

“She’s my best friend, I know these things,” Emori continued, blotting her lipstick in the mirror. “And if you want to impress her, don’t let them put the gel in your hair. Clarke is a sucker for the curls.”

Before he could formulate a coherent response, someone from wardrobe whisked Emori away, leaving Bellamy to stare at his messy hair in the mirror. 

***

  
“Uncle Murphy did my pigtails special for me this morning,” Madi said proudly, running her finger over the green ribbon

Clarke smiled, lifting Madi into a tall director's chair so she could see her dad on the stage. 

Uncle Murphy. 

She was pretty sure that was the one who Emori had a crush on, with the floppy hair and the perpetually unbuttoned shirts. 

“How many uncles do you have?” Clarke asked, settling into her own chair, unable to resist the opportunity to find out a little more about Bellamy’s world. 

She’d never been able to fully discern what his deal was. They all knew he was a single dad, but that was the extent of the information. Clarke wanted to learn more about him, wholly intrigued by his soft smiles and the gap-toothed pictures hanging in his dressing room. 

Her lack of knowledge about his life confirmed that, in truth, she knew nothing about him. But this glimmer into his life made her want to know everything about him, to make herself a part of his world. 

“Hmm, well, there’s uncle Murphy and uncle Gabe, we all live in my house together. There’s also uncle Lincoln, but he and auntie O live in Polis,” the little girl rambled, counting them off on her fingers. 

“Three uncles is pretty special,” Clarke agreed, handing Madi a clipboard with a blank piece of paper on it so she could feel more included. “Plus, your daddy.” 

“He is a good daddy. Except that he doesn’t let us have dessert on school nights,” she nodded, doodling a circle on her paper. 

Clarke’s heart stuttered, and she couldn’t help the way her eyes flicked to the sound stage. Bellamy was already seated in his armchair, chatting pleasantly with their guest. 

Hanging out with Madi was the first peek into who Bellamy really was, what he was like outside of work. If she was anything to go by, he's a really good dad, and it just made her crush worse. 

She needed to change the subject. At the rate they were going, this adorable child would unknowingly render her into a puddle of school girl mush before the show even started taping. 

“So when I tell everyone to go, the cameras are going to start moving and the show starts! Once that happens, you gotta be quiet as a mouse, okay?” Clarke instructed, holding a finger to her lips. “Do you know how to spell quiet?” 

Clarke wasn’t sure whether it was the right question for a five-year-old, but Madi drew a wobbly Q on her paper and then a U, and then I, skipped the E and ended with a T. 

“That’s super close!” She cheered, explaining the phonics behind the missing E as the crew shuffled around them, getting ready for the show. 

She’d never been one of those people who were naturally good with kids, always felt too awkward around them to try. But Madi was warm and curious and bright. Hanging out with her felt like the most natural thing in the world. 

It wasn’t even about Bellamy—Clarke wanted to personally ensure this kid never felt sad a day in her life. 

The feeling was unfamiliar, but not necessarily unwelcome. 

She ran a hand over Madi’s back, nodding encouragingly as she practiced writing the word “quiet.” 

***

  
Madi proudly handed Bellamy a paper with giant letters scribbled on it. There were a few words that he didn’t think she knew how to spell, but they were written nonetheless. 

“Clarke taught me how to write big girl words,” she announced, planting her hands on her hips as she looked between him and Clarke. 

“Madi is hands down the smartest five-year-old I’ve ever met,” Clarke agreed, smiling down at Madi in a way that made Bellamy’s heart ache. 

His daughters didn’t have many women in their lives. He knew how much it meant to Madi to hear this from Clarke. Maybe this was what she needed to shake off her funk, some girl time.

And it didn’t hurt to know that the woman he’d been crushing on for the better part of a year liked his kid. 

Not just tolerated—but actually seemed to like her. 

“You are the smartest,” he agreed, bending to press a kiss to his daughter’s cheek. “Why don’t you go show Emori.” 

Madi nodded excitedly, scampering off, waving the paper in hand. 

“I—thank you, seriously,” he sighed, leaning against the wall as he smiled at Clarke. 

Clarke smiled back, leaning beside him, so their shoulders brushed just a little. 

“She’s great. Seriously, you’re doing an amazing job. Most kids are not that interesting or fun,” she said, flitting her gaze over to where Madi was showing Emori her work from the day. 

A knot formed in Bellamy’s chest, something that felt like the beginnings of tears. 

It was an impossible feat sometimes, managing the grief of three kids who lost their mom. On days like these, he wondered whether he was enough, whether he was doing right by them. The girls had an army of people who loved them, but it always felt like they were missing something that he would never be able to give them. 

To hear that he was doing a good job, from Clarke no less—hit him straight in the heart. 

Bellamy didn’t have a lot of people he let into his world, who got to spend time with the girls the way Clarke had today. He was glad that she could see just how special Madi is, that she’d taken the time to get to know his daughter and make sure she had a good day. 

Clarke placed a hand on his arm, squeezing his bicep gently. 

Maybe Emori was right. Clarke was just a person. All he had to do was talk to her. 

It didn’t have to be a grand gesture. 

After years of staying off the market, he should start small. 

He needed the space to get to know her, to show her parts of his life that he’d kept close to his chest for so long. 

Maybe it would go somewhere, maybe it wouldn’t. 

But he hoped that Clarke would be a part of their lives either way. 

“Clarke, Clarke!! Do you want to come over for dinner? It’s uncle Murphy’s special BBQ night!” Madi yelled, running back across the sound stage and toward them. 

Clarke’s eyebrows jumped, and she seemed genuinely caught off guard. 

“I—I’m sure that your—“ she stammered, shooting Emori a look that Bellamy couldn’t quite read. 

“Madi, It’s Friday night. Clarke probably has plans,” Bellamy interrupted, tripping over his words as he tried to straighten a situation that only seconds ago felt perfect. 

True to form, Madi was very much a step on the gas, no brakes kind of kid. 

The idea of Clarke at his house, the same day that he’d finally managed to say more than three words to her, felt risky. There were too many possibilities for things to go wrong, for him to mess it up. 

But still, he kind of hoped she didn’t have plans. 

“I'm supposed to hang out with Emori,” Clarke said slowly, drawing her lip between her teeth. “So if we can both come...I think we would love to try Murphy’s BBQ. Right, Mori?” 

***

  
Bellamy burst through the kitchen door. This was bad, very, very bad. Clarke was going to be here in two hours, he hadn’t showered since yesterday, and the house was a complete disaster. 

“Clean your room Charlotte, we’re having company,” he called as he picked up blankets and plastic toys. 

“Is the company eating dinner in my room?” Charlotte huffed, not looking up from her phone. 

“Charlotte…please just humor me here. You can go back to being twelve and hating me in an hour, I promise.” 

She rolled her eyes, but complied, rolling off the couch to take some of the blankets out of his arms. 

“Madi, it’s your room too, I’m not cleaning by myself,” she yelled, so loudly that Bellamy had to wince a little bit. 

The girls disappeared up the stairs, leaving Bellamy to wonder how he can make his house look like six people don’t live in it. 

“Is the queen coming to visit?” Murphy snorted, coming down the stairs with Eden on his hip. 

She was fresh from her nap, soft brown curls sticking up wildly, eyes sleepy and cheeks red. Bellamy reached out for her, hugging her close as he explained the events of his day to his best friend. 

“Wait...Emori is your co-host, right? From the show?” Murphy asked, the smile slipping from his lips. 

“The one who you totally embarrassed yourself in front of at Octavia’s wedding? Yeah, that’s the one,” he confirmed, taking great pleasure in the way Murphy cringed before he turned to help straighten up. 

At least now, both of them were nervous. 

Bellamy set Eden down in her playpen before getting down on his hands and knees to scrub the dirt off the floor. 

He and Murphy cleaned in silence, working their way through the entire downstairs. 

It wasn’t spotless by any means, but the house looked a lot better than it did before. 

“Yikes...you need to shower before Clarke gets here,” Murphy frowned, pinching Bellamy’s wrinkled shirt with distaste. “If I’m going to make dinner for this many people, I need you out of my hair anyway.” 

With one last shake of his head, Murphy turned to start laying out ingredients on the counter. 

There was truth to it; Bellamy could barely cook on a good day. He wouldn’t be much help with making elaborate smoked meats. 

And he did smell a little ripe.

If he’d known how today would go, he would’ve taken the time to shower before work. 

Somehow in the span of a single day, he’d gone from crushing on Clarke from afar to having her come to his house to have family dinner. 

Maybe he should bring Madi to work more often—and take her to the toy store as a thank you. 

***

  
Murphy kneaded seasoning into the pork loin, trying not to let his mind wander too much. 

But apparently, that was easier said than done. 

The memory of his drunk self fumbling and awkwardly slurring a pick-up line to Emori at Octavia’s wedding replayed over and over in his head. 

It was the drunkest he’d ever been, not exactly a great first impression.

He’d been trying to tell her that she was the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. But the messaging got lost in translation. 

True to form, Murphy met the girl of his dreams and proceeded to make a huge ass out of himself. 

The odds he could win her over with a pork loin and some macaroni were low, but at least it could act as an apology for his embarrassing misstep. 

“Char, can you help me make some macaroni salad?” He asked, still focused on making sure the seasoning made its way into the meat. 

There was a snort behind him, but no actual answer. 

“Charlotte?” He asked again, trying to keep his hands as still as possible as he turned to face her. 

“What is with everyone today? You’re acting like you’re on crack, and dad is five seconds away from cleaning between the floorboards with a q-tip,” she groaned, typing furiously on her phone while she complained. “I swear nobody in this stupid house knows how to chill, it’s so annoying.” 

Shit. 

Charlotte was in a mood. 

“Who peed in your Cheerios this morning?” He asked, knowing it wasn’t exactly a comforting statement, but if Charlotte wanted a motivational speech, she would’ve gone to Bellamy. 

She scowled at him, the messy smudge of her eyeliner turning her eyes dark. 

“Everyone keeps treating me like a baby,” Charlotte huffed. “Nobody ever thinks that maybe I have a life, and I don’t want to clean my stupid room or make macaroni salad.” 

Of course, Charlotte had to decide to act like a teenager an hour before dinner with two women who seemingly made both his and Bellamy’s brains stop working. 

“I uh—don't really know how to fix any of that right now,” he admitted, honesty had always been his go-to parenting style. “Would it be okay if we talk about this tomorrow? You don’t have to help with the pasta salad, and you can invite a friend tonight if you want.” 

There was a beat of silence, and somehow Charlotte looked even more distressed. 

“I don’t want to invite a friend,” she huffed, still annoyed. “I want to go to Mallory’s house. She’s having a party with high school boys.” 

Quickly, he washed his hands, wiping them off on his jeans as he moved to hug Charlotte. He sometimes lost sight of how young she actually was, how hard it is to be that age. Everything felt like life or death, and gross parties with creepy boys were make or break social events. 

“I love you, and I’m thrilled you told me about the party,” he said carefully, rubbing a soothing hand down her back. “But that party is going to be disgusting, and all those boys will be creepy. I can either let you go and come pick you up in thirty minutes when it sucks, or you can help me make brownies, and you can stay up to watch TV later.” 

That earned him a small smile. Charlotte was the only person who knew how to make Aurora Blake’s brownies the right way, and she knew it. 

It would be a good distraction, help her get her mind off a party she was too young to be worried about. Plus, it saved him a step. They were already running pretty behind. 

“I’m still mad at you,” Charlotte said, taking a mixing bowl out from under the counter. “Everyone is going to think I’m a baby.” 

Murphy frowned at that, unable to find the right words to explain to her how much better off she was being a baby. He wanted her to hold on to being young and innocent for as long as possible, to not have to push herself into the kind of adulthood that he did. 

When he was just a little older than she is now, Murphy played gigs in smoky bars and stole sips from half-drunk beers. 

He didn’t have a choice, no money, no parents, nowhere else to go. He hooked up with women that were too old for him and missed out on a lot of childhood innocence that he would never get back. 

But Charlotte didn’t need to do that. She had so much life ahead of her. 

Bellamy had always been the one to have the heart to heart conversations. Murphy didn’t feel equipped to handle this by himself. 

“If anyone calls you a baby, tell them to take it up with me,” he deflected, flexing his meager bicep until Charlotte finally relented. 

Telling Charlotte about his childhood could wait for another day. 

***

  
“Yellow sundress?” Emori asked, smoothing her hands over her skirt. 

Clarke applied her last layer of lipstick, turning to prop her shoulder on the bathroom door to examine Emori’s outfit. 

“I like the red one better,” she announced, forcing Emori to go digging back into her closet for the outfit in question. “But I don’t really get it. Isn't Murphy the one who got wasted and made a really cringe attempt to flirt with you? Why are you freaking out so badly?” 

Emori groaned. 

She never should’ve told her friends that story. 

“Yes, but I know him from before. I don’t think he remembers me, but…” 

It was a half-truth. She did know John from before—in what felt like a different life. 

“The desert” was a dive bar on the wrong side of Arkadia, not exactly a place for a fifteen-year-old. But she hadn’t had much choice, not when her options were either sitting with a cup on the side of the road or living off tips while she tried to finish high school without anyone noticing she was homeless. 

John couldn’t have been much older than she was, but he spent every night up on the stage, playing his guitar while drunk patrons grabbed at him. 

They crossed paths only occasionally, but whenever they did, he would come sit in her corner of the bar. 

She’d been drawn to him even then, with his quiet jokes and careful smiles. 

It always felt like there was something between them, like they understood each other in a way nobody else possibly could. 

Until one day, CPS caught wind of her...and, she had to run. 

She never expected to see him again. Especially not at her coworker’s sister’s wedding that she attended as a formality. 

Of course, he hadn’t recognized her and flirted with her like she was just another random girl. 

Emori couldn’t fault him for not putting two and two together, even if it did sting. Looking back at pictures of herself, with pink hair and a nose ring, nobody would guess she was the same person. 

But John looked exactly the same, even though he went by his last name now, and he didn’t line his eyes with thick layers of black kohl. 

She was proud of them. They’d both turned their lives around, made their way out of dirty dive bars. 

Clarke smirked at her, turning back to finish curling her hair. 

“You have the upper hand, you know, he’s the one who embarrassed himself. Just remember that,” she said with a shrug. 

As Emori changed back into the red sundress, wishing she could tell Clarke the truth. 

But nobody knew. 

It was Emori’s most guarded secret, where she came from, who she was before she hosted the most popular talk show in Arkadia. 

Dredging up the past wouldn’t do any good. 

She didn’t want to dwell on it anymore. 

All it was doing was making her cagey and nervous. 

“Are we going to talk about Bellamy’s giant crush on you? I thought he was going to combust when he saw you walking around with Madi,” Emori teased, glad to take the focus off herself. 

“We’re just coworkers,” Clarke said firmly, even as she applied another layer of lipstick that was surely not for a coworker. 

“Mhmm, that's why you wear a push-up bra to work every day, right?” 

“I—uh—-“ 

“Yup.” 

They were both screwed in their own ways, about to head off to dinner with two men that neither of them could seem to think straight around. 

***

  
“Don't wear your hair like that, it makes you look weird,” Charlotte said from the doorway, moving into Bellamy’s room to take the gel from his hand. 

“It looks more formal that way,” he tried, half-heartedly pushing down a stay curl. Apparently, Emori wasn’t the only one who thought his hair looked better without gel. 

“Messy is in right now, dad, ask anyone,” Charlotte sighed, like he was the dumbest person in the world. 

She threw the bottle of gel on the bed before moving to dig through Bellamy’s closet. 

“You should wear this!” She exclaimed, pulling a blue Henley out from behind his jackets. 

He took the shirt from her, marveling at when exactly his daughter decided that she needed to start taking care of him. It was sweet, especially considering how angsty Charlotte could be lately. But it also broke his heart that she worried about him like this. 

“I can pick out my own shirts, honey, I promise,” he smiled, taking the Henley from her. “But this is an excellent choice.” 

He dropped a kiss on the top of her head, letting himself enjoy the rare peaceful moment with his almost teenage daughter. 

“Yeah, but I do a better job,” Charlotte continued smugly, “I mean...apocalypse chic, much?” She pulled an army green jacket from his closet, wrinkling her nose in distaste. 

Bellamy rolled his eyes, taking the jacket back from her just as the doorbell rang. 

“Ohh, Emori is here! I want to watch uncle Murphy act like a dummy!” She said cheerfully, hugging Bellamy before she ran out of the room and down the stairs. 

Bellamy changed quickly, grateful that Charlotte had picked out his outfit. Left to his own devices, it probably would’ve taken him another hour to figure out what to wear. 

He’d just finished trying and failing to get his curls to sit flat, when he heard the thud of footsteps up the stairs and Madi’s voice. 

“I share my room with Charlotte, that’s why there’s a piece of tape across the floor, she doesn’t like when I touch her stuff,” she rambled, “but I have lots of toys and a tea set and an American girl doll that Uncle Gabe gave me for Christmas.” 

Carefully, Bellamy eased his door open, peeking around the corner as Madi and Clarke stood in the doorway to the girls’ room. 

Clarke was listening intently, nodding as Madi introduced the room in painstaking detail. 

His heart melted at the connection between the two of them. He was a little taken aback by how quickly Madi attached herself to Clarke. It was like they were kindred spirits or something. 

But this also made his crush on Clarke at least ten times worse. 

Not wanting to interrupt the moment, he slipped out of his room, tiptoeing down the stairs only to find Gabe standing in the living room. 

“I didn’t say anything,” he shrugged, adjusting Eden on his hip. “But if I had known about this beforehand, I would’ve made other plans.” 

Bellamy rolled his eyes, taking Eden out of Gabe’s arms. 

“It’s just dinner, the kids are here,” he whispered, not wanting Clarke to overhear him. 

“Yeah, that’s why you have the world's dopiest smile on your face, and Murphy has dropped at least three things in the kitchen since Emori got here,” Gabe smirked, rolling his eyes as he bumped his shoulders against Bellamy and disappeared into the kitchen. 

With a sigh, he kissed Eden’s cheek, leaning his temple against her chubby face. 

He didn’t know how to navigate this anymore, how to flirt with someone, and date with kids. He’d always been worried about bringing new people into their lives, confusing them, or making them feel like he was replacing Gina. But Clarke felt different. It was a huge step that Madi seemed to like her so much. 

“Your daddy has no idea what he’s doing,” he whispered to Eden, bouncing her on his hip. 

She babbled in response, turning her head to press a sloppy kiss to his cheek. 

“Luh you dada,” she grinned toothily, and Bellamy’s nerves dissipated slightly. 

“I love you too, little bean,” he smiled back, dipping her down and spinning her in a circle. 

***

  
Clarke held Madi’s hand as she dragged her down the stairs. She still couldn’t figure out why exactly this little girl decided Clarke was her new best friend, but it felt like a massive compliment. 

Bellamy was standing in the living room, holding a curly-haired toddler, essentially dancing around the room with her in his arms. 

The sight of it was almost too endearing to bear. 

This was the real Bellamy, his curls free from their usual styling, sleeves rolled up, face crinkled in a full laugh. 

Until now, Clarke had thought she’d liked the idea of Bellamy. They barely knew each other after all. Her feelings for him were centered around his strong arms and warm smile. 

But seeing him with his kids, dancing like nobody was watching, it just made her like him more. 

“Hey,” he said, voice catching on a laugh as he slowed, allowing the baby to wiggle out of his arms and toddle around. “How was your tour?” 

“It was great,” Clarke grinned, wiggling her fingers at Eden. “Madi was extensive. Your underwear drawer is extremely organized.” 

With a wink, she held out a hand for Eden to take before all three girls left him gaping in the living room. 

Clarke chewed on her bottom lip, trying to keep herself from blushing as they entered the kitchen. 

Emori was perched on a barstool next to another curly-haired girl, watching as Murphy stirred Mac and cheese on the stove. They were all laughing, a clear improvement from the last time, and Emori was playing with her bracelets like she always did when she was nervous. 

A good sign. 

Not wanting to interrupt, Clarke let the younger girls lead her into the backyard. 

“This is Picasso!” Madi exclaimed, bending down to wrap her arms around a scruffy golden retriever. “And uncle Gabe.” 

Sure enough, a man in a white tunic was draped on the porch swing, fast asleep. 

“Why don’t we go play on the swing, so we don’t wake him up,” Clarke whispered, leading the girls over to a well-worn playset. 

She took turns pushing Madi and Eden on the swings until Bellamy joined them. 

“Gabe works really weird hours, so he sleeps pretty much any chance he gets,” Bellamy explained, taking over pushing Eden, so they were standing side by side. 

“What does he do?” Clarke asked, looking over to the still sleeping man. From the way he dressed, she figured he was a yoga instructor. 

“He hosts a kids show.” 

It only dawned on her then, that she’d seen him before. Usually, while switching channels early in the morning before work. 

“Wizard Gabriel and the Magic Dragon,” she said, chuckling at the idea that the man in front of her spent his days in a purple velvet robe with a puppet on his hand. 

“The one and only,” Bellamy confirmed, smiling back at her as he pushed Eden. 

They let the girls swing, listening as Madi rambled about her day to Eden. The baby didn’t seem to be particularly interested in listening. Still, Madi wasn’t deterred, explaining her spelling lessons and the excitement of the set and the sandwich she ate for lunch. 

“Clarke is really nice, I think you’ll like her,” she continued, talking as if Clarke wasn’t standing directly behind her pushing the swing. 

“Cl’ke,” Eden repeated, sliding out of the swing so she could follow her sister toward a small pile of barbies. 

“That’s right peaches, Clarke,” Bellamy nodded, sitting down beside his daughters and pointing to Clarke as he repeated her name. 

Just when Clarke thought her heart couldn’t take any more, he had to go and do that. 

Eden murmured her name over and over, almost like it was a song as she banged a Barbie doll on the ground. 

The girls played between themselves, passing the dolls back and forth while pretending to have conversations about groceries and shoes. 

It didn’t make much sense. They were obviously repeating lines from movies and TV without any context, but it was adorable all the same. 

Bellamy tilted his head, scooting back in the grass, so they were a comfortable distance away from the girls. Still within sight, but out of earshot if they kept their voices down. 

“Madi’s been going through a rough patch lately, but today, she seems like herself again,” he smiled, still looking over to where his daughters were playing. “Thank you for humoring all this.” 

Clarke watched as Madi undressed a Barbie and chucked it clear across the lawn, cheering to herself when it hit the fence with a dull thud. 

“We’re a house full of guys,” he continued, shaking his head as the doll slid slowly into the dirt. “Madi doesn’t get a lot of time with women. So I think little things like this mean a lot to her.” 

His words took her by surprise. 

It never occurred to Clarke that Madi latched on so quickly because she was a woman. 

But it made sense. There was a lot of testosterone in this house. 

Bellamy finally turned, meeting her gaze as they both leaned back in the clean grass. 

He looked gorgeous like this, soft curls falling onto his forehead, a gentle smile on his face, the dark blue of his Henley contrasting with his tan skin and freckles. 

Clarke could feel herself falling for him, really falling, not just for the way he looked. But with the way he swung his kids around, the way he spoke to them so gently, how genuinely appreciative he seemed that she did something as small as letting a little girl follow her around for the day. 

It felt like too much, seeing Bellamy at home, hanging out with his family. He wasn’t an idea anymore. This version of him was real.

A living breathing person. 

Clarke had forgotten what it was like to have a crush on someone, to be wholly consumed with the prospect of being with them. 

This house, these people, this life, it was something she’d always longed for, something she’d never actually known. 

There was chaos and laughter, and love, and Clarke never wanted to leave. 

  
***

  
“Can you teach me how you do your hair like that?” Charlotte asked, bouncing excitedly in her chair as she reached out to toy with one of Emori’s curls. 

“Of course,” Emori nodded, sneaking a glance at Murphy while he stirred something on the stove. 

They hadn’t had much room to talk. Charlotte decided that Emori was her style icon and had been bombarding her with questions ever since. 

Having a 12-year-old call her a queen was probably one of the best compliments she’d ever gotten, so she didn’t mind. 

Plus, it gave her a chance to steady herself before she spent any time alone with Murphy. 

“Can you taste this,” he asked, interrupting a question about a curling iron to hold out a spoon of coleslaw to Emori. 

Truth be told, she hated the stuff, but she wasn’t about to tell him that. 

One bite couldn’t hurt. 

So she took the spoon from him and put it in her mouth. 

Only to be met with a memory of being nine years old and throwing up coleslaw after running the mile in gym class. 

The thought alone made her gag, but Murphy had the biggest smile on his face, so she sucked it up and plastered a smile on top. 

“It’s delicious,” she managed to get out, swallowing thickly and hoping all her acting classes didn’t fail her now. 

There was a long pause, and Murphy raised an eyebrow at her. 

“You hate it,” he said bluntly, taking the spoon back to throw it in the sink. There was a hint of a smile in his voice as he looked at her expectantly. 

Part of her wanted to double down, but of course, he was onto her. 

“Okay, but it’s not you, I just really hate coleslaw,” Emori admitted, spitting the rest of her bite into a napkin. 

Another pause, and then, Murphy burst into a laugh. 

It was the best sound she’d ever heard, warm and gentle, his smile lighting up his entire face. 

“You definitely didn’t have to eat it,” he choked out, bracing his hands on the counter as he laughed. 

Relieved that he wasn’t offended, Emori laughed too, letting herself relax a little for the first time since they walked through the door. 

She could feel Charlotte looking back and forth between them, a distinctly teenage smile on her face. 

“You’re both so weird,” she giggled, reaching over the counter to try a bite of her own. “It needs salt.” 

Emori smiled to herself as she helped John carry plates out to a picnic table in the backyard. Clarke and Bellamy were sprawled out in the grass, giggling like teenagers while two younger girls played beside them. It was a sweet scene, and Emori hoped that things would work out for them. After everything Clarke had been through, she deserved a little happiness. 

They both did. 

Weirdly, this whole thing felt too good to be true. 

Emori kept waiting for the other shoe to drop, but instead of existential dread, there was just a golden retriever and a giant plate of brownies. 

The old picture of her and John weighed heavily in her pocket, the final piece of the puzzle, the one thing that had the potential to send this whole thing tumbling over. 

Maybe...just this once, she would leave well enough alone. 

The photo could wait for another day. 

***

  
“Char, don’t forget to brush your teeth,” Bellamy called after her, receiving a sleepy wave in response as Charlotte trudged up the stairs. 

The girls had insisted that Emori and Clarke stay for movie night, and they all tried their best to stay awake until the final credits of The Greatest Showman rolled. Only Charlotte had her eyes open by the end, and even she was hanging on by a thread. 

Madi was sandwiched between Bellamy and Clarke, a giant bowl of wilted popcorn in her lap. She snored softly, her head pillowed on Bellamy’s bicep, her hand still holding on tightly to Clarke’s. 

“I know you thanked me earlier, but I feel like I need to thank you too,” Clarke whispered, gently untangling her hand from Madi’s. “I can’t remember the last time I spent time with a family like this. It’s really special.” 

She brushed a stray strand of hair from Madi’s forehead, letting her finger trail down the side of her chubby cheek. 

They were alone now, nothing between them except a sleeping five-year-old. Murphy and Emori disappeared into the kitchen fifteen minutes before the movie ended, and Gabriel fell asleep shortly after dinner. 

Bellamy didn’t really know where to go from here. 

There was definitely something between him and Clarke, but it felt fragile, too delicate to push too far. 

Friendship felt like a safe place to start. 

“The girls love having you here,” he said, hoping she understood that he loved having her here too. “If you wanted to do this again sometime, I think they would really like that. Especially Madi.” 

Bellamy was proud of himself; that was smoother than he’d expected. This would be an excellent way to ease into things, spend some more time together, and it seemed like it would be really good for the girls. 

“I think I would like that too,” Clarke nodded, giving him a smile that seemed--almost nervous. 

It gave him a little flutter of hope. 

Maybe things were finally turning around for him.   


***

  
“This might be kind of forward...but would you want to get coffee sometime?” Murphy asked, stomach plummeting to his feet as he stared at Emori over a sink full of dirty dishes. 

He couldn’t have chosen a worse moment. 

They were elbow deep in dirty water, the scratchy sound of the radio playing in the background. He wasn’t sure what came over him, but Emori had been laughing, and she looked so pretty, and something about her felt like home. He couldn’t place it, but it felt like he’d known her for his entire life, like they had a history beyond this moment in the kitchen. 

She froze, lifting her hands out of the soapy water and drying them with a nearby towel. 

It was only then that he noticed her fingers, two of them were fused together, and one was slightly longer than the other. 

Suddenly, it all clicked into place. 

Emori seemed familiar to him because they’d met before. 

She seemed to recognize the moment he put two and two together, and from the look on her face, it was apparent that she already knew. 

“I found this after Octavia’s wedding,” Emori said, voice hoarse as she reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled piece of paper. 

Murphy dried his hands on his jeans and took it from her, unfolding it to find that it was actually a carefully preserved polaroid. 

His fifteen-year-old face stared back at him, dressed in an oversized leather jacket, eyes lined with a heavy dose of guyliner. Beside him, tucked behind the bar, was Emori. It took him a second to recognize her. She had pink hair, heavy make-up, and an eyebrow ring, her hand wrapped carefully in a muslin sleeve. 

“Oh my God.” 

Never in a million years had he expected the girl from “the desert,” the only kind face from that season of his life, to find her way back to him. 

After she vanished without a trace, he’d tried to look for her, but nobody ever seemed to know who she was. 

Everyone who worked in the bar used a fake name, and he’d never been able to figure out who she actually was. 

Until now. 

Before Murphy could really wrap his head around what he was doing, he surged forward and kissed her. 

And to his relief, she kissed him back. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eppp!! I'm really really excited about this one :) I feel like we all need a little fluffy wholesome dad Bellamy and fun uncle Murphy in times like these. I hope y'all are doing okay and hanging in there. 
> 
> Some housekeeping, since there are two ships in this...do we like the alternating POV with both ships in one chapter, or would you rather I do alternating chapters of Bellarke and Memori?! I'm open to suggestions and I'd love to hear what you think would work best. 
> 
> I love and appreciate each and every one of you so much, thank you for taking the time to read my fluff and extra big thank you to all of you who nominated me for a writing award for bellarke fic awards. I cannot express how grateful I am for all of you. SO MUCH LOVE <3 please take care of yourselves! Please let me know if you like it, I love hearing your thoughts!


	2. Babies and Berries

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love y'all :)

“Can we call Clarke today?” Madi asked from across the breakfast table, shoving a fork full of pancakes into her mouth. 

“We saw her yesterday, Mads, she probably has things to do,” Bellamy sighed, flipping another pancake into Gabe’s plate. 

“But I miss her,” she pouted, crossing her arms across her chest and sinking back into her chair. 

Bellamy held back a smile, clicking off the stove as he carried the plate of pancakes to the table. 

“I think you should ask her,” Murphy added, cutting up Eden’s pancakes into tiny triangles. “I’m seeing Emori tonight, so I bet Clarke isn’t busy.” 

Bellamy was about to press his friend further, suddenly curious about what transpired between Murphy and Emori in the kitchen last night. 

But Gabe beat him to the punch. 

“Are you going on a date?” He asked bluntly, downing the last of his coffee. 

“He is, I saw him and Emori kissing last night,” Charlotte added smugly, not even bothering to look up from her breakfast. 

Gabriel almost choked on his coffee, and for the first time ever, Murphy looked genuinely shocked. 

“I needed a glass of water, you were in the way,” Charlotte added, a small smile playing at the corner of her lips. 

Suddenly, Charlotte seemed very grown up in a way that made Bellamy’s heart ache. 

It was weird how seamlessly she’d inserted herself into an adult conversation and how nonchalant she was about Murphy’s love life. 

Twelve going on twenty-five apparently. 

“I think we should have a family fun day,” Bellamy announced around a mouthful of pancakes. 

There was a beat of silence, and then— 

Everyone groaned except Madi, who pumped her fists up in a little cheer. Eden mimicked her, just happy to be a part of the excitement. 

Charlotte flopped her head onto the table, “I have plans! It’s like you’re trying to ruin my life!” 

Family fun day was code for forcing everyone to do an activity together that nobody actually liked but felt obligated to do because they are, in fact, a family. 

It started when Bellamy fell into a depression hole after Gina’s funeral, barely able to get out of bed long enough to get the girls dressed. 

Back then, he hadn’t appreciated how much effort it took for Gabriel and Murphy to wrangle three small children they barely knew, dress them appropriately, and shove them in a van. 

That very first outing was nothing short of a disaster. Gabe picked a seafood restaurant with an overly complicated menu. Eden cried through the entire dinner, Madi hid under the table, and Murphy spent the evening flirting with their waitress. 

A total mess. 

And yet somehow—it made him feel better, pushed him to get some help and try to be there for his kids. 

Terrible as they usually were, family fun days almost always turned out well in the end. 

In this case, Bellamy was hoping it would stop time and somehow keep Charlotte from becoming a teenager. And if it didn’t, at least it would be some time for them all to just slow down and be together. 

“Bell, I have plans, too, remember?” Murphy sighed, slinging his arm over the back of Charlotte’s chair. 

“Bring Emori, everyone invite whoever you want,” he conceded, knowing that this was the only way he was going to get this to work. 

More groans sounded around the table as Charlotte and Murphy took out their phones and typed furiously. 

“I’m inviting Clarke,” Madi announced, smiling up at Bellamy proudly. 

He knew that she thought she’d just pulled a massive scam, but inviting Clarke was a feature of this outing, not a flaw.

***

  
Clarke arched her back into cobra pose, the knot between her shoulders pulling as she breathed through the new position on her yoga mat. 

After last night, she needed to clear her head. 

She was getting ahead of herself, suddenly wrapped up in the idea of Bellamy and his kids and his beautiful old house. 

If Emori hasn’t been there, Clarke probably would’ve convinced herself that she dreamed the whole thing up. 

After almost a year of staring at Bellamy from afar, she inserted herself wholly into his life, and if anything, it made her like him more. 

She shifted into downward dog, relishing in the way the blood rushed through her head and all her overthinking seemed to pause for a few blissful moments. 

“Your phone is about to ring,” Emori called through the door, two seconds before Clarke’s phone buzzed beside her. 

Clarke jumped at the intrusion, flopping onto the mat with an unceremonious thud. Her crystal jar clinked weakly in response as she laid on the floor, letting her phone buzz for a few more seconds before she answered. 

_“Hi,”_ Bellamy’s voice sounded through the phone, and suddenly Clarke was glad she was sitting on the floor. 

Sure, he’d said he would call her, that they would make plans to hang out again. But Clarke hadn’t expected it to hear from him so soon. 

_“Hey,”_ she replied, trying to steady her pulse as she listened to Bellamy apologize for interrupting her morning and ramble while Madi and Eden shouted in the background. 

_“So I know that we’re totally monopolizing your time here, but I think Madi would disown me as her father if I didn’t at least ask. Do you want to join us for a family fun day?”_ He asked, voice dropping in an overwhelmingly endearing way. 

Clarke laid back on her mat, holding the phone to her ear. 

She wanted so badly to say yes, to agree to whatever crazy thing family fun day entailed. 

But this whole thing, the staggering normalness of the Blake family, it threw her off. 

Clarke had no siblings to speak of, a distant and strained relationship with her mother, and a lifetime of familial expectations that she never met. 

She didn’t know how to navigate stuff like this, family dinner and bedtime stories, and little girls with pigtails who seemed to trust her wholeheartedly. 

After her stint at Mt. Weather psych and years of therapy with her mom, Clarke concluded that she never wanted children of her own. She had too much baggage, too much of her own trauma to manage. It had never come naturally to her anyway, taking care of kids, trying to nurture them. 

And then, by some strange twist of fate, Bellamy Blake and his weirdly wholesome family fell into her lap. 

It all just felt too good to be true. 

_“So, what do you think?”_ Bellamy asked, trailing off as he finished rambling about Madi. 

She should say no, take the day to catch up on work, and make lunch for the week. 

But instead, she found herself saying yes. 

“I take it you’re coming to family fun day too?” Emori teased, flopping on Clarke’s bed. 

“I should really take your key away,” Clarke huffed, twisting into one last forward fold before rolling up her yoga mat. “That thing is for emergencies.” 

Emori rolled her eyes, reaching over to steal one of Clarke’s nail polishes. 

“I was trying to warn you about family fun day,” she said, carefully covering her thumb in red polish. “But, the elevator is way too slow in this building.” 

Clarke shook her head, taking the bottle from Emori so she could help her. Emori always got impatient and ended up smudging them around the corners. 

“Do you have any idea what we’re doing? Bellamy was really vague, and I was too caught off guard to really react.”

“No idea...John and I were supposed to go out to dinner, so it’s definitely a change of plans.” 

Clarke’s head whipped up at that, the bottle of nail polish almost spilling over as she urged Emori for details. 

She had to admit, that was impressively fast. Maybe she should ask Emori to give her lessons or something. 

***

  
Emori chewed on her bottom lip, straightening the nail polish while Clarke gasped at her. 

Once again, she considered how much she should divulge. 

This wasn’t just her secret to tell anymore. It was John’s too. 

“We uh—-might have kissed last night,” Emori finally admitted, and it felt good to say it out loud, like that made it more real somehow. 

Clarke immediately tackled her in a hug, smearing red nail polish on the bedspread in the process. 

“What the fuck?! Why didn’t you say anything,” she shrieked, not even bothering to wipe off the polish as she pulled away. “Tell me everything! Or I guess—tell me how much you want to tell me but like as much as possible.” 

Emori was grateful for the little add. While Clarke didn’t know everything, she did know Emori pretty well. She was guarded too, had a lot about her past that Emori knew nothing about. It was unconventional, but it left them with a mutual understanding of the way they expressed themselves. 

She glossed over the backstory almost entirely, leaving it at her and Murphy knowing each other from when they were kids. 

“He recognized me from my hand. I’m not really sure how he didn’t notice sooner, but the second he did—it just happened,” Emori blushed, resisting the urge to cover her face with her palms. 

“Was he a good kisser? Musicians are always good kissers…” 

“Great kisser. And then John said he wanted to take me out and do this for real and get to know me…” she continued, letting her excitement from last night finally bubble out. “It’s really fast, and kind of a lot, but I don’t know, it just feels right.” 

Clarke reached out to take her hand, smiling so broadly that her cheeks pulled at the corners. 

“I’m so happy for you, ‘Mori! Even if it’s fast, maybe that just means it’s really right between you guys!” 

Hearing her friend’s words felt like a relief. Emori hadn’t realized, but she’d been holding this all in, and hearing from someone else that it wasn’t crazy—was precisely what she needed to hear. 

***

  
“Okay, everyone,” Bellamy said, holding out a velvet wizard hat for everyone to put their pieces of paper in.

He shook the hat a few times, the papers rustling against one another as he handed the hat over to Gabriel. 

“For our new magical pals, this hat is the super special hat. All you have to do is believe in the magic, and it’ll pick the most fun activity for us to do,” Gabriel explained, using a small green puppet to convey his little story. 

Bellamy perched on the edge of the couch, right beside where Clarke was sitting with Eden on her lap. 

“Magic! Magic! Magic!” Eden chanted, clapping her chubby hands together. 

“That’s right, Edie girl, c'mon everyone! Magic! Magic! Magic!” Gabriel urged, letting the dragon dive into the hat and swim around in the slips of paper. 

Clarke bent down, holding Eden's hands in her own as they clapped together, and Bellamy kind of loved how into this she was. 

She fit into their mess pretty seamlessly. 

“Mr. Dragon!! It’s time to stop…” Charlotte said, voice just hinting on bored as she leaned back against the couch. 

Gabriel let the dragon dig around in the hat for a few more seconds before it finally emerged with a piece of paper in its mouth. 

“Where are we going, Wizard Gabriel?” The puppet asked, gesturing toward the piece of paper. 

“I don’t know, Mr. dragon, where do you think we’re going?” 

Admittedly, this was long-winded and unnecessary, and it obvious drove Charlotte crazy. But it had always been the tradition. 

“Gabe loves bringing the puppet out at home,” Bellamy whispered, scooting a bit closer to whisper in Clarke’s ear. “I’m half convinced he snuggles with it sometimes.” 

Clarke snorted in response, covering her laugh with her fist, and Bellamy preened, his heart swooping when she rolled her eyes him. 

Gabriel shot them both a look that indicated he definitely heard the joke, before moving forward with his next few lines. 

The back and forth continued for a few more minutes, with Charlotte and Madi filling in when they were supposed to. 

“Can you do me the honor?” The puppet asked Eden, dropping the paper in her lap. 

Clarke took the tiny slip before the baby had the chance to shove it in her mouth, resting her chin on her little shoulder. 

She unfolded the paper and whispered in Eden’s ear. 

“We going tuh da ‘awberry farm!” Eden announced proudly, taking the paper out of Clarke’s hands and crumpling it in her fist. 

Clarke gently smoothed down Eden’s soft curls as she wiggled in her lap and chanted strawberry over and over again. 

“I have a strawberry dress!” Madi yelled, excitedly springing up from the couch to do a little dance. “Daddy, can you do the special braid with the pink ribbon, so it matches?” 

She was doing the puppy dog eyes, and there was no way Bellamy could say no to that. 

With another enthusiastic cheer, Madi ran up the stairs as fast as she could. 

“I hope you guys like strawberries,” Murphy chuckled, snorting as Madi stuck her head through the banister, calling for Charlotte to come help her with her outfit. 

“My suggestion won,” Charlotte said smugly, flipping her hair over her shoulder. “So, you’re welcome.” 

And with that, she too vanished up the stairs. 

“What about you, little miss Eden? Are you all ready to go?” Clarke asked, hugging her close. 

Bellamy rubbed a hand down Eden’s back, letting himself enjoy this moment of domesticity with Clarke. 

Eden was still in her PJs; he’d wanted to wait until they’d picked an activity before he changed her into an outfit. No point in wasting clean clothes on sitting around. 

He hadn’t anticipated Eden attaching herself to Clarke. The idea of the two of them dressing a baby together felt a little too domestic for people who were just getting to know each other. 

But if Bellamy knew his daughter—and he did, the second he lifted her out of Clarke’s lap, she would scream bloody murder. 

The kid liked her snuggles. He couldn’t exactly fault her for that. 

“Why don’t we go pick you out a dress? Or some pants? Whatever you’re feeling,” he asked, tilting his head toward the stairs and hoping Clarke would just follow along. 

***

  
“Twenty bucks says he totally loses it in the next fifteen minutes,” Murphy snickered, perfectly content to stay on the couch with his arm around Emori. 

“Fifteen is generous, I give it five,” she said in return, tilting her chin to look up at him. 

He was still a little dumbstruck at his luck, not only that he’d managed to find Emori after all these years but also that she wanted to be with him like this. 

“You are a skeptic, and I find that very sexy.” 

“I find a lot of things very sexy,” Emori replied, gaze softening as she bumped their noses together. 

Murphy knew this was moving fast, but he was so comfortable around Emori that it didn’t feel like their first kiss was yesterday. 

He had, after all, known her longer than he’d known almost anyone, even if they’d spent most of that time apart. 

“I gotta change too,” he sighed, carefully easing up from the couch after gesturing at his slightly wrinkled T-shirt. “You can stay here...or…” 

Emori reached out to clasp their hands together, and at that moment, Murphy realized after all his years of teasing, he was just as pathetic as Bellamy. 

Somehow, he made it all the way up the stairs before he tried to kiss her. But just as he leaned down, she stepped out of his grasp. 

“Where are your manners? I’m a lady. No more kissing till after our date,” she teased, sitting a safe distance away in front of his drum set. 

Murphy gaped at her, ruffling his hair as he processed her joke. 

He’d genuinely met his match. 

“Here for the view then, huh?” He asked with a smug smirk, turning to sift through his closet. 

“Something like that, yeah.” 

He was glad he had the distraction of choosing shirts, because the smile on his face was multiple levels of embarrassing. 

“Well, prepare for the best ten minutes of your life,” he teased, turning around with his ugliest Hawaiian shirt in hand. 

Emori collapsed into giggles, and Murphy decided that family fun day might not be so bad after all. 

***

  
Clarke knelt in front of Eden on the plush carpet, pushing a toy car in a circle while Bellamy collected an armful of dresses. 

There was already a small pile of discarded T-shirts beside him, all of which Eden had deemed “yucky.” 

She was apparently in a phase. 

“Okay, peaches, what about this one?” Bellamy offered, holding out a fuzzy pink sweater. 

“No, is yucky,” Eden’s tiny voice said, her eyes never leaving the little red car. 

Bellamy looked like he was on his wit's end, his hair sticking up just slightly from the number of times he’d run his hand through it. 

He wasn’t wearing any gel again, and his loose curls looked temptingly soft. 

Clarke wondered why he dressed the way he did at work, with slicked-back hair and stuffy formal jackets. This version of Bellamy seemed to speak more to who he really was, soft sweaters and black-rimmed glasses and hair that curled around his ears. It made her want to wrap her arms around his waist and hold on forever. 

His arms flexed as he knelt down in front of them, and Clarke was so distracted she didn’t even hear whatever he said to Eden. 

“How unethical would it be if I tried to bribe her with a c-o-o-k-i-e?” He asked, flopping down beside them on the rug. 

“Only a little. I wouldn't exactly blame you, but it doesn’t seem like your style,” she shrugged, leaning back on her hands. 

“Ugh sadly, you’re right,” Bellamy sighed, scooting over until his head was resting on Eden’s little legs. 

The cuteness of it all was becoming a little unmanageable for Clarke. Bellamy, with his head in Eden’s lap, was like something out of domestic fantasy. 

Eden finally looked up from the car, reaching to gently pet Bellamy’s head, and Clarke briefly went into cardiac arrest. 

“Hi dada,” she said, flashing him a toothy grin as she continued to clumsily stroke his hair. 

Bellamy smiled up at his daughter in return, gaze painfully fond. 

The whole thing made Clarke’s heart ache and not just in a romantic way. Bellamy’s relationship with his children reminded Clarke of her own father. So patient and loving and wholeheartedly understanding. Bellamy not only accepted his kids’ quirks but embraced them. 

His love for them, his relationship with Madi in particular, took Clarke back to days spent following her dad to work and pretending to be his assistant and eating sandwiches in the cafe across the street. 

She knew, profoundly and wholeheartedly, that Jake Griffin would’ve loved Bellamy and his girls. 

The realization hit her before she truly understood the weight of it all, why she felt so connected to this family that she never knew. 

So much of her life had been spent pushing down her feelings, trying to leave the past behind, but for the first time since she was a kid, Clarke thought back to her childhood and felt a glimmer of gratefulness and nostalgia. 

All because of Bellamy Blake. 

And maybe that’s why she felt so drawn to him, why he made her feel safe and important from the moment they met. 

These girls didn’t have their mother anymore. They’d never had warm perfumed hugs or lipstick kisses before bedtime. 

Clarke had that for a while at least, even though those vanished the day her father was laid to rest, the day her mom became a shell of who she once was. 

If she could, she wanted to be there for these girls like nobody had been for her, to tell Bellamy how special he was, to weave herself into this warm, happy world and never look back. 

But she didn’t know where to start. 

“Daddy, can you do my ribbons now?” Madi asked from the doorway, long dark hair sticking up messily around her forehead. 

Bellamy kissed Eden’s hand before straightening. They hadn’t gotten much accomplished in the past thirty minutes. Clothes were strewn everywhere, and Eden was still only wearing a diaper. 

“If you don’t mind...I’d love to help!” Clarke offered, unsure whether it was an overstep, but based on Bellamy’s smile, she was probably in the clear. 

“Do you know how to do braids?” Madi asked, bouncing on her heels and twisting the little pink ribbon around her finger. 

Clarke nodded, and Madi waved for her to follow down the hallway. 

“Have you heard of a crown braid?” Clarke asked as they settled on the floor of Madi and Charlotte's room. 

Charlotte was tucked in the corner, trying and failing to use a barreled curling wand. She hadn’t been as receptive to Clarke as the other two, but she was also older, so that was to be suspected. 

At twelve, the oldest Blake girl was the most likely to feel threatened by someone getting close to her dad. It made sense, Clarke had a strained relationship with her stepfather, Marcus, for similar reasons. 

Time and space were the best option with her. She would warm up if she wanted to, but the harder Clarke tried, the more likely she was to push away. 

Carefully Clarke weaved the pink ribbon through a braid that spanned the top of Madi’s hair. Her curls were thick and beautiful, the exact same brand as Bellamy’s. Out of the three, Madi definitely resembled her father most closely. 

“What do you think?!” Clarke asked, bopping Madi’s upturned nose as she led her to the mirror. 

Madi shrieked in delight when she saw her “princess hair.” Within seconds, she raced out of the room to show every member of the house. 

Clarke bent to pick up stray pieces of hair, and the silence between her and Charlotte was thick and awkward. 

She was still struggling with the curling iron, an angry red bruise seared into the side of her hand. 

“Do you want me to help?” Clarke asked, bracing herself for the blowback. 

Sure enough, Charlotte stiffened, keeping her eyes trained on the mirror. 

“I’m not a baby,” she said coldly, flinching as the iron bumped her hand again. 

“Of course not! But it’s hard to get the back pieces sometimes, Emori and I curl each other’s hair all the time.” 

Another bout of silence, but Charlotte wavered slightly, lowering the wand to look at Clarke. 

“Okay...but only the back,” she conceded, handing the wand to Clarke. 

Clarke nodded, moving to stand behind the younger girl. Unlike her dad and sisters, her hair was a muted blonde, more like Clarke’s than Bellamy’s. 

Carefully, she ran her fingers through it, loosening the messy, lopsided curls. Unlike Madi, Charlotte sat stock still, almost like she was waiting for it to hurt. 

Seeing this unfold in the mirror, another wave of sadness washed over Clarke. 

For the first time in her life, she saw her own mother in her reflection, standing behind a girl that looked like a different version of herself. 

This was something they’d done together, all the way until Clarke was in high school. Some of her best memories with her mom centered around sitting in front of a mirror chatting about her day while Abby brushed her hair. 

All the feelings she’d spent a lifetime pushing down were bubbling up, and it was becoming overwhelming. 

But this wasn’t about her. Clarke knew this was hard for Charlotte too. 

With one last look at her reflection, she refocused on the curling wand. 

She wanted to ask Charlotte questions, to learn about her the way she had with Madi and Eden. But this was already a lot to handle, and she didn’t want to push her over the edge. 

When she finished the last layer, she took a step away, fluffing up Charlotte’s roots before once again finding her eyes in the mirror. 

Charlotte played with the ends of her curls, smiling softly at her reflection. 

“Would you fix some of the front pieces too? I know said just the back but—“ 

“I would love to,” Clarke said, squeezing Charlotte’s shoulder. 

It was a small moment, but it felt like something a lot bigger for them both. 

***

  
They arrived at the strawberry patch, and in a matter of minutes, a horde of children screamed, “Wizard Gabriel and the Magic Dragon!” 

Several apologetic parents wandered over as Gabriel pulled a miniature dragon puppet from his pocket and began explaining that he was “undercover for the king to solve a mystery.” 

Bellamy looked over at Murphy, covering his laughter with his fist as they continued walking, leaving Gabriel alone to deal with his adoring fans. 

“This happens literally every time we go out in public,” Bellamy explained. “It’s gotten to the point that Gabe has an elevator speech from convincing them to leave him alone.” 

“I’m honestly offended that nobody ever yells out to us about Wake Up Arkadia,” Emori laughed, looking over her shoulder at the crowd of kids. 

“Oh, you should ask Bellamy about the time he got hounded by a bunch of seventy-year-old women,” Murphy snickered, smacking him on the shoulder. 

Bellamy blushed, rubbing the back of his neck while Charlotte and Murphy recounted their trip to the beach a few years ago. 

He was a bit taken aback by how Charlotte kept smiling at Clarke, looking between her and Emori when she threw a joke into the conversation. 

If there was one person whose reaction to this whole situation he’d worried about the most, it was Charlotte. 

Out of his three girls, she remembered her mom the most clearly, and he never wanted her to think he was replacing Gina. Nobody could ever fill that space in their family or in the girls’ lives. But he was starting to realize that he couldn’t stay alone forever just because he was afraid of how his kids would react. 

Clarke was everything he could’ve hoped for in a new partner, patient and kind and amazing with his kids. 

In theory, things were going perfectly, but Bellamy was navigating this for the first time. He didn’t know how to communicate with his daughter that it was possible to remember someone and still keep moving forward. 

Maybe it wouldn’t come to that, or maybe Charlotte would figure it out on her own. 

But the pit in Bellamy’s stomach told him that this was the calm before the storm. Nothing had happened between him and Clarke right now, but if things did in the future, it would probably change the dynamic between her and her kids. 

But he pushed the thoughts away as the laughter died down, and Gabriel reappeared beside them. They would cross that bridge when they got to it—if they got to it. 

He wanted things to go well between him and Clarke, but she was incredibly hard to read. She certainly liked his kids, enjoyed spending time with his family—but he wasn’t sure if she liked him. 

There was a tinge of jealousy at how easily things seemed to fall into place for Murphy and Emori. Of course, he was happy that his best friend finally figured things out after years of one night stands. But it felt like there was a mountain in front of him and Clarke that he didn’t know how to begin climbing. 

If he wanted her to know how he felt, he should probably make things a little more obvious. 

To start slow, he had to start somewhere. 

“Berry for your thoughts,” Bellamy murmured to Clarke, placing the strawberry he’d just picked into her palm. 

The seconds the words left his mouth, he cringed. 

Not exactly smooth. 

But Clarke giggled, examining the berry for a beat before she took a big bite. 

It left a soft ring of pink around her lips, followed by her tongue a few seconds later. 

“This was a great idea,” she said around her bite, reaching out to pick another berry off the vine to press into his palm. “I hope you like this berry much.” 

He wanted to kiss her. She was so close, it would be so easy. 

But that was the opposite of slow. 

Instead, he settled for a chuckle, biting into the berry just to have something to do. 

They traded bad puns about fruit as they walked through the patch, watching as Madi and Eden filled their baskets with more strawberries than they could ever eat. 

“Okay, one last one, but it’s so bad that you might never speak to me again,” Bellamy chuckled, tossing another berry to Clarke. 

“Try me,” she replied with a wink, popping another one into her mouth. 

“These berries are so cheap, it’s like a ro-berry!” 

Clarke snorted, picking another strawberry and throwing it at him. 

“That was so bad that you owe me a strawberry milkshake.” 

Bellamy raised an eyebrow, but there was nothing he wanted to do more than buy Clarke a milkshake. 

***

  
Emori fed Eden a small bite of strawberry shortcake, smudging a little bit of whipped cream on her nose with a giggle. 

Immediately, her tongue darted out to catch it—but it was just out of reach. 

“She got ya good, huh, kiddo?” Murphy asked, wiping off the whipped cream with his thumb. “It’s okay, she’s got me pretty good too.” 

It was the truth. 

And when it came to Emori, Murphy didn’t feel like he needed to beat around the bush. 

He wanted her to know that she made him feel different than any other girl had, that it was still hard to form a coherent sentence around her sometimes. 

Knowing that Emori came from the same tiny town that he did, lived the same hell of eating greasy kitchen leftovers and pretending to be older than her years. It made him want to wrap her up in his arms and keep her close forever. 

And seeing her with the girls, the way she connected with Charlotte, that tugged at something in his heart too. 

Murphy had never been the type of person to outrightly want children. His childhood had been so fucked up, that he didn’t know if there was room for him to care for another person that way. But after the girls, things changed. He still didn’t want children of his own, but there was a newfound desire to adopt, to take care of kids like him, who didn’t have anywhere else to go. 

Without ever having to talk about it, he knew Emori was the one person in the world who would understand that, who would see where he was coming from. 

“Do you want kids of your own someday?” He found himself asking, knowing that the question was forward and probably a little presumptuous. “You’re kind of a natural.” 

There was a beat of silence as Emori fed Eden another bite of dessert. 

“Yes and no. I...have some genetic problems, it’s why my childhood—sucked,” she trailed off, eyes fixed on Eden. “But I want to be a mom someday, maybe not in the same way that other people want to be moms, but—“ 

Murphy covered Emori’s hand with his own, squeezing her fingers tightly. 

She gave him a soft smile in return, and he felt an emotion he hadn’t felt in a long time bubble in his chest. 

John Murphy was not by any stretch of the imagination a religious man, but Emori felt like a gift from somewhere. 

***

  
Bellamy tipped his head back, allowing the sun to warm his face and knowing that he’d been going home with at least a few handfuls of new freckles. 

For a moment, he just let himself appreciate the warmth, the sweet stickiness of strawberry jam still lingering on his tongue, the sound of the girls laughing as they ran around the empty patch of grass playing red rover. 

Things weren’t always like this, and a long time ago, Bellamy promised himself he would never take the good moments for granted again. 

“Daddy!! Come play. We need someone to be ‘it’!!” Madi called, waving her arms to get Bellamy’s attention. 

He joined a rousing game of tag, lunging in different directions as everyone ran in circles around him. He just missed Murphy by a thread, dodged when he dipped under a picnic table. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Clarke pause to catch her breath, and before she could anticipate his move, he jumped at her. 

She giggled as he caught her around the middle, spinning her around. 

“No fair!” She yelled, grabbing his arms while they spun. 

Clarke’s lips were stained pink from the strawberries, and her nose bumped his cheek as she exclaimed for him to put her down. 

“We’ll save you, Clarke!!” Madi yelled, latching herself onto Bellamy’s leg. 

Eden grabbed onto the other, and Bellamy carefully set Clarke back on the ground. He kept his arms around her even once he’d put her down, both panting from the exertion. 

“I think that means I’m it?” Clarke murmured, tilting her head back to look at him. 

“I’m pretty sure that’s consistent with the rules of tag,” he agreed, letting Clarke go. 

Her hands skimmed his when they broke apart, and she winked at him over her shoulder. 

Bellamy could feel his cheeks heating as he bent down to unwrap his daughters from around his legs. 

“See? Told you that Clarke is the best,” Madi whispered to him, and he couldn’t help but agree. 

***

  
“I have to admit, this was a pretty good family fun day,” Charlotte said around her burger, a piece of lettuce sticking to the side of her lip. 

Clarke smiled at her across the table, she didn’t have anything to compare it to, but she still nodded. 

She took a bite of her own burger, looking around the table at a group of people who’d been strangers just yesterday—well, except Emori. 

This family had the rare gift of making perfect strangers feel like they’d known them for years. 

Even Charlotte was warming up slowly. 

“You okay?” Bellamy asked, bumping their shoulders together. 

She nodded, nudging him back and letting herself linger against his side. The heat of his flannel was warm against her bare skin, and she longed for him to wrap his arm around the back of her chair, to be able to casually let her hand rest on his thigh. 

But—they weren’t there yet. 

Clarke didn’t know how to navigate this. How much flirting was too much flirting? 

She needed to relax, to let things happen the way they were supposed to. 

Except Clarke didn’t have a chill bone in her entire body. 

Uptight to a fault, Clarke had always been jealous of the way Emori could just go with the flow and let life happen. 

Clearly, Emori knew what she was doing because Murphy was kissing her cheek and holding one of her hands in his lap. 

Meanwhile, Clarke was losing her mind from a shoulder bump. 

“I think Madi is about to fall asleep in her Mac and cheese,” Clarke whispered, leaning in a little closer to Bellamy. 

“Too much excitement for one day, I think,” he murmured back, smiling down at Clarke in a way that made her heart flutter. 

It would be so easy to pretend like this was her life, that she could have Bellamy like this all the time. But she knew better than to get her hopes up. Rosy and warm as it all was, they were treading in a minefield here. 

There was a lot of potential for things to go wrong. 

“Can I pinch her?” Charlotte asked, scooting closer to her sister. 

“Absolutely not,” Bellamy said sternly, just as Gabriel turned Madi so she could lie down in the booth with her head pillowed on his leg. 

Clarke bit her lip, suppressing a laugh as Charlotte fake pouted and returned to her burger. 

“So how’s your Sunday looking, Charlotte?” Clarke asked, reaching across the table to steal a fry off her plate. 

“I have this new friend Jessica, and she wants me to come over to do homework tomorrow,” Charlotte said excitedly, stealing a fry off Clarke’s plate in retaliation. “We were supposed to have a sleepover tonight, but that was before dad said we had to have family fun day.” 

It was cute, the way she rambled on about her new “cool” friend. The nature of it all felt very familiar, the nervous excitement of having popular girls like you. Clarke just hoped that whoever these girls were, it went better for Charlotte than it did for Clarke when she was in high school. 

“You know what my favorite sleepover game is?” She asked, leaning forward like they were sharing a secret just between the two of them. 

Charlotte shook her head, twisting on of her now limp curls around her finger. 

“Sleepover game?” 

“Back in the olden days when we had to rent movies from the store, we used to play games during sleepovers for fun.” 

Bellamy snorted beside her, looking between Clarke and his daughter before turning to talk to Murphy. Sleepovers were clearly not an area of interest for him. 

“My favorite one was where one person lies on the floor, and everyone picks her up with two fingers. It’s called light as a feature, stiff as a board,” she explained, attempting to demonstrate with a fork. 

Charlotte’s eyes lit up as she rapidly fired questions at Clarke about other sleepover games they could play. 

It was nostalgic to think back on all her nights with Harper and Gaia—sometimes Lexa and Anya before things went south, trying on her mom’s heels and playing truth or dare. 

“Dad!! Can I have my friends over for a sleepover next weekend?” 

Bellamy’s head whipped around, and Clarke felt a stab of guilt at the panic on his face. 

“Umm, of course,” he said after a long pause, but it was clear he felt like he was over his head. 

The rest of dinner passed with Charlotte peppering Clarke with questions and everyone else chatting aimlessly about nothing. 

But as they left Red Robin, Clarke could tell Bellamy was still a little tense. 

She caught him around the bicep, more than a little taken back by how firm it was. 

“I’m sorry about the whole sleepover thing, I didn’t mean to put you in a weird position,” she said, squeezing his arm. 

“It would bound to happen eventually,” he smiled, covering her hand with his own. “But, I don’t really know how to navigate this whole almost teenager thing.” 

“If it helps, I used to be a teenage girl, and I still don’t understand teenage girls,” Clarke chuckled, trying hard not to think about how large Bellamy’s hand was in comparison to hers. 

There was a beat of silence and then, before she could actually process what she was saying…

“I could help out if you want,” Clarke offered, looking over to where Charlotte was excitedly telling Emori about her sleepover. “I’m sure Emori wouldn’t mind either.”

Two days and Clarke had somehow managed to fully insert herself into this family. 

It should probably worry her how much she didn’t mind, but Bellamy’s bright smile was enough to completely distract her from anything other than him. 

So much for taking things slow. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My dears, my heart, my loves! The response to this silly little thing is overwhelming. Thank you so much for all your kind words and feedback about the last chapter! I've never written a multi-ship fic before and it was kind of nerve-wracking to post this but I'm truly enjoying this so much. Writing a fluff piece like this is exactly what my heart needs. If you can't tell, memori is going to be very fast moving and bellarke will be a slow burn, I'm excited to explore the parallel. I’m also so glad the addition of Gabriel got so much love, he’ll have a tiny story of his own too don’t worry! 
> 
> I hope you like this addition! I also made a fun edit on Tumblr if you want to check that out as well. Please let me know what you think bc I always love hearing from you all. 
> 
> Take care of yourselves, hydrate, love everyone and have a good week. Sending you all lots of love.

**Author's Note:**

> If you want to be friends or you would like to prompt Bellarke or Memori fic for the @t100writersforBLM fundraiser you can find me on Tumblr @Nakey-cats-take-bathsss


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